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CATEGORY AQUISITIONS

A controlled succession plan Dr Geoff Wallman’s transition into retirement and his enduring association with Ekera Dental, explores the dynamics of post sale relationships and the unique management approach that sets Ekera Dental apart in the corporate dental landscape.

By Danny Chan

W hen you sell a car or a piece of real estate, the buyer and seller would typically part ways after the transaction concludes. is holds true for most business sales. However, the dynamics shift when it comes to dental practices, where the prosperity and sustainability of the enterprise often depend heavily on the owner. Under such circumstances, it makes sense for the buyer to retain the services of the proprietor, often times the principal dentist, even after the sale, until a suitable replacement can be secured. Acquisition companies commonly incorporate this practice by o ering the selling dentist a contractual term to continue serving after the sale. Dr Geo Wallman found himself in such a situation when he agreed to remain as the principal dentist for ve years after selling his clinic to the Ekera Dental group. If that sounds like an unusually lengthy post-sale relationship, you’d be surprised to learn that Dr Wallman went on to extend his duration of service. “I wasn’t quite ready to retire, so I ended up staying for about a year and a half,” he says. “I didn’t want to leave the practice in the lurch. We were just completing the ve-year period, and I wanted to establish a succession plan. Hiring sta , particularly dentists, has been challenging lately. However, we were fortunate to nally nd an excellent practice manager who enabled me to take a step back.” Road to Blackwood Graduating from Adelaide University in 1981, Dr Geo Wallman spent the rst 10 years of his career honing his skills as a general practitioner in Hong Kong. He then returned to South Australia with his family and established successful practices in the picturesque locations of Barossa Valley, Strathalbyn, and Blackwood. Known for his expertise in implant technology, crown and bridge procedures, as well as laser dentistry, Dr Wallman has dedicated himself to both professional

L-r: Brandon Hoe, one of Principals at Findon Dental Centre, Dr Geoff Wallman, his successor Dr Raj and Michael, one of the clinicians at Blackwood.

growth and exemplary patient care. He has undertaken extensive postgraduate studies in prosthetic and surgical implant therapy, as well as minor oral surgery. In addition, he is a long-standing member of the International Team of Implantology, as well as past member of the European Society of Oral Laser Applications. Now at 67, after dedicating more than three decades of his life to the profession, Dr Geo Wallman has o cially retired. Wise to the occasion Re ecting on his exit strategy that really took shape in 2016 when he discovered Ekera Dental through a trusted agent, he says the nal decision was years in the making. It is instructive to note that Dental Corporation (which later became Bupa Dental) hadapproachedDrWallmanbefore his fateful meeting with Dr Tony Coulepis, Ekera Dental’s Executive Chairman. Dental Corporation was of course one of the biggest and most in uential brands on the market. Around the same time, a friend of Dr Wallman’s had sold a thriving practice to National Dental Care, another major player on the acquisition block.

Yet in retrospect, Dr Wallman believes he couldn’t have made a wiser decision, attesting – rst and foremost – to Ekera Dental’s by-now famous “non-corporate corporate” management style. “ e Ekera model allowed me to keep running the dental practice the way I had always been running it, as an individual practice,” he quali es. The Art of preserving identity: Ekera’s non-corporate model Another signi cant factor was Ekera Dental’s steadfast adherence to retaining the original branding and nomenclature of acquired dental clinics, a practice that distinguishes it from the prevailing norm observed within larger corporate entities. e uniqueness of Ekera Dental, Dr Wallman believes, lies in its approach of not assimilating practices into a vast conglomerate but allowing them to maintain their local and family-oriented

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